U.S. patent number 7,090,541 [Application Number 11/138,381] was granted by the patent office on 2006-08-15 for slim usb electronic device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Inventec Multimedia & Telecom Corporation, Sony Corporation. Invention is credited to Hsin-Chiang Ho.
United States Patent |
7,090,541 |
Ho |
August 15, 2006 |
Slim USB electronic device
Abstract
A slim USB electronic device, which includes a substrate and a
housing enclosing the substrate, is disclosed. The substrate
includes a circuit board and an extended connector. Electrically
conductive metal strips are adhered to the connector, and
integrated circuit elements are mounted on the substrate. The
housing has openings, through which the corresponding metal strips
are exposed and electrically communicate with the contacts of an
USB receptacle.
Inventors: |
Ho; Hsin-Chiang (Taipei,
TW) |
Assignee: |
Inventec Multimedia & Telecom
Corporation (Taipei, TW)
Sony Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
36781670 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/138,381 |
Filed: |
May 27, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/660;
439/76.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
12/721 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
24/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;439/660,76.1,680 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Ta; Tho D.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A USB electronic device being insertable into a USB receptacle,
comprising: a substrate having a circuit board and a connector
extending from the circuit board; a plurality of metal strips
adhering to the connector, ends of the metal strips being
electrically connected to the circuit board; at least one
integrated circuit mounted on the substrate; and a housing, the
housing having: a plurality of openings, through which the
corresponding metal strips are exposed and are electrically
communicable with contacts of the USB receptacle; a hole arranged
on a top surface of the housing; and at least one incline formed on
a top or bottom surface of both flanks of a main section of the
housing, rather than a connector section of the housing.
2. The USB electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one
integrated circuit is mounted on a same surface of the substrate,
thereby reducing a thickness of the USB electronic device.
3. The USB electronic device of claim 1, wherein the substrate is
substantially enclosed in the housing.
4. The USB electronic device of claim 1, wherein a width of each
opening and an interval between adjacent openings are compatible
with a USB standard.
5. The USB electronic device of claim 1, wherein the metal strips
are mounted onto the substrate by surface mounting technology
(SMT).
6. The USB electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one
integrated circuit comprises a memory for storing data.
7. The USB electronic device of claim 6, wherein the at least one
integrated circuit further comprises a USB controller for
transforming the data of the memory into a USB signal compatible
with a USB standard, or reversely transforming an incoming USB
signal and then storing the transformed USB signal into the
memory.
8. The USB electronic device of claim 7, wherein the USB controller
establishes an electric loop with the memory.
9. The USB electronic device of claim 1, wherein the openings are
arranged on a top surface of the housing and are extended forward
to a front end of the housing.
10. The USB electronic device of claim 9, further comprising an
inclined plane along the openings at the front end of the housing.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention discloses a USB electronic device and specially
relates to a slim USB electronic device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the progress in the information technology (IT) industry,
portable electronic devices become more and more popular. Some of
them, such as a flash drive or a small memory card, are capable of
communicating with host (PC or notebook computer) through specific
transmission interfaces, in which the universal serial bus (USB) is
the most popular one. Because the USB is one of the most popular
I/O interfaces in current personal computers, many electronic
devices adopt USB as their transmission interface. The advantage of
utilizing the USB is that it reduces the usage of a card reader for
portable devices with different I/O interface.
Conventionally the connector for the USB electronic device is
separated from the circuit board, and fabricated together by a
weld. Because the USB connector's limitations, however, the USB
electronic device will become too thick to be portable. Referring
to FIG. 1, the housing 100 of the USB connector will influence and
increase the volume and thickness of the electronic device. In
order to reducing the thickness of all electronic elements among
the electronic device as possible, the most regular solution is to
improve the USB connector's structure, or to apply a design without
connector for thinning out the electronic device. Referring to FIG.
2A and FIG. 2B, Taiwan patent number 570242 discloses a USB storage
device, therein the connector 202 is extended from the circuit
board and enclosed in an upper housing 200 and a lower housing 201.
By utilizing the contacts of a USB receptacle to touch the metal
film 204 electroplated directly on the connector 202, the USB
storage device could establish an electric loop with the host.
However, as the connector 202 inserts and pulls out over and over
again, the metal film 204 becomes easier to peel off, resulting in
the USB storage device being unable to be used. Besides, most areas
of the connector 202 are exposed from the device housing, making
the contacts (formed of metal films) short circuit easier by
external matter which decrease the electronic device's life.
FIG. 3 illustrates the simplified structure of a small USB
connector disclosed in Taiwan patent number 565026, therein
connector 30 and circuit board 31 are manufactured whole in one and
placed in the lower housing 38. The upper housing 37 merely covers
parts of the connector 30 and forms the device's housing with the
lower housing 38. In addition, four metal strips 33 are adhered on
the connector 30 as the contacts for communicating with an USB
receptacle (not shown). Although this structure overcomes the
problem that the metal film peels off easily, the connector 30 is
still exposed to too external matter. Further, because it's
necessary to drill on the connector 30 before adhering the metal
strips 33, and a metal housing 39 shaped of U letter is also needed
for protecting the connector 30, the structure of the USB
electronic device becomes more complicated and harder to fabricate,
resulting in difficulties in reducing production costs.
According to the above descriptions, the foregoing two inventions
may achieve the goal for a slim USB electronic device, but there
are still some disadvantages to overcome. Therefore, there is need
to further reduce the thickness of the USB connector and the
thickness of the USB electronic device, to overcome the foregoing
disadvantages, and provide more protection for the connector
(especially contacts of USB electronic device).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As the shortcomings of conventional USB devices are discussed in
the prior art, an objective of the invention is to provide a USB
electronic device which having a slim structure.
A another objective of the invention is to provide an improved USB
electronic device, in which the substrate and other electronic
elements are substantially enclosed for preventing the connector
and the contacts of the USB electronic device to become
unnecessarily revealed, thereby gaining more protection.
A further objective of the invention is to provide an improved USB
electronic device, in which every opening corresponds to a metal
strip to make the improved USB electronic device functional for
guiding each contact of an USB receptacle into the right position,
and prevent mutual influences between the two metal strips or short
circuit caused by external matter.
In accordance to the foregoing objectives of the invention a USB
electronic device is disclosed, which comprises a substrate having
a circuit board and a connector extending from the circuit board.
Some metal strips adhere onto the connector, which is then
electrically connected to the circuit board. At least one
integrated circuit is mounted on the substrate, and a housing has
openings, through which the corresponding metal strips are exposed
and are electrically communicable with the contacts of a USB
receptacle.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
However, it should be understood that the detailed description and
specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the
invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various
changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from
this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more fully understood from the
following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, which
are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative
of the present invention, and in which:
FIG. 1A illustrates a conventional USB connector;
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrates a USB connector's
structure of the prior art and its explosion drawing;
FIG. 3 illustrates the explosion drawing of a USB connector of
another prior art;
FIG. 4A is the preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4B is the explosion drawing of the preferred embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 4C is the side view for substrate of the preferred
embodiment;
FIG. 4D shows the side view of the preferred embodiment of the
invention and an USB receptacle; and
FIG. 4E shows the front view of the preferred embodiment of the
invention and an USB receptacle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is now described
in great detail. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that the
present invention can be practiced in a wide range of embodiments
besides those explicitly described, and the scope of the present
invention is expressly not limited except as specified in the
accompanying claims.
FIG. 4A illustrates a slim USB electronic device, which is the
preferred embodiment of the invention and specially an USB storage
device. The arrow indicates the direction of the USB electronic
device while inserting into an USB receptacle. The disclosed USB
electronic device is enclosed with a housing 4, which opens some
openings 402 (four in this embodiment) for exposing inner metal
strips 46 as the contact for communicating with the USB receptacle
of a host.
FIG. 4B is the explosion drawing of the preferred embodiment of the
invention illustrating in FIG. 4A. Referring to FIG. 4B, the inner
structure is distinctly revealed, therein every composing element
of the USB electronic device are substantially enclosed in the
upper housing 40 and lower housing 41. The composing elements
include a substrate 43,; which further comprises a circuit board
431 having an essential circuit layout, and a connector 432
extending from the circuit board 431. The preferred material of
substrate 43 in this embodiment is a printed circuit board
(PCB).
Metal strips 46, such as bronze strips, are adhered to a connector
432, and electrically connecting to the layout of circuit board
431. Means for fixing metal strip 46 on connector 432 are not
limited, in which surface-mount technology (SMT) is preferred and
applied in the embodiment. By reference to SMT, metal strips 46
directly adhere on connector 432 as the contacts for communicating
with USB receptacle, advantaging of avoiding drilling on connector
432 which simplifies manufacture and reducing the costs.
A memory 44, such as a FLASH RAM, is mounted beneath substrate 43
for storing data. Besides, the bottom of substrate 43 further
comprises a USB controller 45 for transforming an incoming USB
signal into data and storing in the memory 44, or transforming the
data stored in memory 44 into a USB signal to communicate with the
host through metal strips 46.
It is noted that other elements except memory 44 and USB controller
45 could be mounted on the substrate 43. Furthermore, the memory 44
and USB controller 45 could be replaced by other type of integrated
circuit. In other words, applications of the invention are not
limited as a storage device, but applicable to the electronic
devices of other purpose.
In order to achieve the goal for a slim USB electronic device,
memory 44, USB controller 45, and metal strips 46 are designed as
thin as possible. Besides, putting memory 44, USB controller 45, or
other elements on the same side of substrate 43 (bottom in this
embodiment) avoids increasing the thickness compared to putting
them on both sides of the substrate 43. Hence, referring to FIG.
4C, in which memory 44 is mounted beneath the circuit board 431 and
the USB controller 45 is mounted beneath the connector 432 for
optimizing the usage of space.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, openings 402 sets on
the upper housing 40 are counted in four and strip-shaped, and
certainly the width of each opening and the interval between two
adjacent openings should be compatible with the USB standard.
Through openings 402 only metal strips 46 are exposed from the
upper housing 40. In other words, each metal strip corresponds to
an opening and partially exposed part of the upper housing 40 as
contacts for electrically communicating with the USB receptacle.
Because the height of the metal strips 46 is lower than the surface
of the upper housing 40, hence the thickness of the invention won't
be increased, and a flatter structure for USB electronic devices
will be achieved. In addition, the upper housing 40 near the front
end of each openings 402 further forms a inclined plane which has
the advantage of making the contacts of the USB receptacle more
smooth to touch the metal strips 46.
Comparing to the prior arts, the major difference is that there are
a plurality of openings opened on the device housing to merely
expose the metal strips excluding the other areas of the connector.
The particular structure design for the device housing benefits in
many ways. First, because every exposed metal strip is separated
from each other by the upper housing 40, it's more difficult to
bring about short circuits between the two metal strips cause by
external matter. Second, except for parts of metal strips 46, the
other areas of the connector 432 are totally enclosed in the
housing 4, hence it makes less of an exposed area of the connector
of the invention than that of the prior art. Besides, the height of
metal strips 46 are lower than the surface of the upper housing 40,
therefore the USB connector is harder to be stressed by foreign
matter and thus obtains more protection. Furthermore the upper
housing 40 isolates each metal strip with a relative higher
surface, guiding the contacts of the USB receptacle to the
corresponding metal strip, which prevents more than one contacts of
the USB receptacle erroneously touching the same metal strip.
In addition, housing 4 may make some variations to the design to
achieve more functions, for example, the upper housing 40 may
further form a hole 408. FIG. 4D shows the side view of the
invention and the USB receptacle, in which the preferred embodiment
of the invention is inserting into the USB receptacle from right to
left. For USB receptacle 49 having a larger depth and inner volume,
it's feasible to add a bolt 495 to lodge in hole 408. As the
preferred embodiment of the invention inserting into USB receptacle
49, bolt 495 and contacts 492 slightly lift till the disclosed USB
electronic device is in the right position. Among them through
openings 402 contacts 492 touch the metal strips, and bolt 495
inserts in the hole 408 to fasten the electronic device, which
achieves more robust connection with the USB receptacle 49.
Furthermore, flanks of housing 4 may form incline 405, 406 as shown
in FIG. 4A, thereby resulting in asymmetry of the disclosed
electronic device. For a USB receptacle shaped as shown in FIG. 4E,
if the electronic device is overturned, the triangular corner 497,
498 will block the bottom sides of electronic device (417,418). It
means the incline 405, 406 provides a foolproof mechanism that
insures reverse insertion is denied. It's stressed that, the
incline 405,406 is not only limited to form on the top flanks of
the housing 4, but also the bottom, top and bottom of one flank, or
only one incline 405 is permitted. With a compatible USB
receptacle, the USB electronic device of the invention achieves a
foolproof function. Besides, hole 408 and the incline 405, 406 are
optional, the designer for the electronic device may decide by
himself if applying the foregoing design is needed or not.
For the above descriptions, the disclosed invention achieves
several advantages such as: achieving the major goal of the
invention for a slim USB electronic device; the particular design
for openings through which merely exposes the essential metal
strips results in providing the connector and adhered contacts more
protection than the prior art; and furthermore, it may optionally
design a hole over the housing for fastening the USB electronic
device, or forms at least one incline as a foolproof mechanism.
Hence obviously the disclosed USB electronic device of the
invention is superior to the prior art, and the invention is novel
and progressive.
The above-mentioned are only the preferred embodiments of the
present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. It will
be appreciated and carried out by those professions skilled in the
art. Thus, many modifications of the embodiments that can be made
without departing from the spirit of the present invention should
be covered by the following claims.
* * * * *